The Week In British Wrestling: The first British J Cup

Here are five things you need to know about British wrestling this week:

1) The J stands for Jushin

Continuing a 2017 that has already had many fine tournaments in the UK, Revolution Pro Wrestling inaugurated the British J Cup last Saturday with a star-studded event at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in east London.

The trophy, for junior heavyweights/cruiserweights (the distinction isn't always clear), was won by Japanese legend Jushin "Thunder" Liger, who was the last man standing in a four-way elimination final. Liger qualified for that final by beating RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion Josh Bodom in double-quick fashion, and he will now face Bodom -- this time with the title on the line -- at Summer Sizzler.

Also in the final shoot-out were Will Ospreay (who beat Ryusuke Taguchi), Marty Scurll (who defeated Tiger Mask IV), and KUSHIDA (who once again overcame Kyle O'Reilly in one of their trademark bouts).

Josh Bodom gets some brief offense in

Outside the tournament action, the Tempura Boyz beat the RevPro young lions team of Kurtis Chapman & Josh Wall, Tomohiro Ishii defeated Matt Riddle, and RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Champions CCK beat BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi of Los Ingobernables de Japon when BUSHI was disqualified for "misting" Chris Brookes. LIJ continued to attack after the DQ and were stopped by a debuting Kid Lykos, who joins his CCK teammates because everyone works everywhere now.

The British J Cup is already available to view on RevPro On Demand, and they're back at the Cockpit on August 6th.

The previous night, What Culture Pro Wrestling held the Japanese qualifier for next month's Pro Wrestling World Cup at Bowler's Exhibition Centre in Manchester. The two qualifiers for that final were KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi, and non-tournament action featured wins for Alex Gracie, Tomohiro Ishii, Marty Scurll, and a title change when War Machine dethroned WCPW Tag Team champions the Swords of Essex.

2) Webster survived Dennis at Chaos -- but Grizzly is waiting

As Pro Wrestling Chaos King of Chaos, Flash Morgan Webster has had to see off some tough competition to retain his title, and that was no different last Saturday when he successfully defended against Eddie Dennis at Heir To The Thron3, held at the Hanham Community Centre in Bristol.

Soon, though, Webster will face the man who won the titular Heir To The Throne match (a contest Webster himself won last year and used the title opportunity that comes with it to take the belt), Big Grizzly, who overcame Matt Horgan, Mike Bird, Dick Riley, Jimmy Havoc, Joe Coffey, and Mikey Whiplash to climb the ladder and take the win.

While Webster held onto his title, there was a change in the tag division, as his underlings in Modern Culture -- Danny Jones & Richie Edwards -- met their match in Project Lucha, and El Ligero & Bubblegum walked off as the new Knights of Chaos.

There were also wins for Alex Steele and Mister Bananas, while The Brotherhood and Team H8 went to a no contest, which led to a steel cage rematch being announced for Chaos' next show, Unleashed on August 19th.

Also announced was an eight-woman tournament for October, and you can catch Chaos on UK Wrestling On Demand, alongside Ultimate Pro-Wrestling, Shropshire Wrestling Alliance, WrestleMidlands, and the archives of Triple-X Wrestling.

3) WALTER solved a Riddle in Birmingham

With Pete Dunne weirdly being allowed to not defend his championship on the road to September's huge Alexandra Palace show, all attention turned to the two title defenses that were on last Sunday's PROGRESS Wrestling show at the O2 Academy in Birmingham.

Topping the card -- titled Screaming For PROGRESS -- was a big six-man, between the British Strong Style and CCK stables, with BSS demanding that the PROGRESS Tag Team titles -- won by CCK's Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos at Chapter 50 -- were put on the line.

This was agreed to, but only if it was also the case that if BSS lost they could never have a title shot again. Ever. Some judicious cheating saw BSS take the win, and both main titles are back in their hands.

Your new Atlas Division champ...WALTER!

There was also a title change in the Atlas Division as Matt Riddle faced WALTER, who had beaten Mike Bird to earn the shot in Cologne last week. WALTER duly made the champion submit to cap a bad weekend for Riddle, and will now find himself involved in EVOLVE action going forward as a result.

There was no PROGRESS Women's title match on the show, but there was plenty of other men's action as Mark Haskins submitted Mike Bird, Eddie Dennis pinned Ashmore, Jimmy Havoc defeated PROGRESS debutante Jigsaw, and Chief Deputy Dunne bled over from ATTACK! Pro Wrestling to beat Flash Morgan Webster. War Machine and The London Riots also renewed their campaign of violence, with the IWGP Tag Team Champions coming out on top this time.

The show will soon be available to watch on Demand PROGRESS, and the promotion are back on July 23rd in Manchester with Vote Pies.

4) Wolfgang is ICW's WWE UK challenger -- but he's not alone

At the end of another packed Friday Night Fight Club taping at the Garage in Glasgow last Sunday, Jack Jester and Insane Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Joe Coffey stood in the ring ahead of their clash at Shug's Hoose Party 4, later this month.

Coffey had just defeated Kenny Williams, robbing the latter of a future title shot after the big weekender, when Jester appeared and announced that their title match later this month would be a steel cage match.

A bloodied, and partially successful, Wolfgang -- photo by David J Wilson

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne will be defending his belt at SHP4, and his challenger was also decided on Sunday's show. Kind of. The scheduled match between Wolfgang and BT Gunn ended in a double pin, which brought out ICW owner Mark Dallas. He declared that the WWE UK Championship match would now be a four-way, with Wolfgang, Gunn, and Dunne being joined by Trent Seven.

The show also featured singles wins for Jester, ICW Zero G Champion Zack Gibson, and Bull James, and tag team victories for Polo Promotions, Legion, and the team of Rampage Brown & Ashton Smith.

In addition, there was further heat between Lionheart and Joe Hendry at a contract signing for their clash at SHP4, and you'll be able to see all this unfold on upcoming episodes of Friday Night Fight Club on ICW On Demand. Next up is the Shug's Hoose Party 4 weekender on July 29th and 30th.

5) British Strong Style ATTACK!ed in Cheltenham (and other stuff)

Although Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate have been regulars in ATTACK! Pro Wrestling since its inception, their British Strong Style stablemate Trent Seven hasn't made too many appearances for the weird and wonderful south west outfit.

Last Friday night, however, the trio made their ATTACK! bow as a unit, at the hastily-announced (and immediately sold-out) Fun The Police, at the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham. They main evented the show, and engaged in some pigeon-assisted nonsense to beat The Anti-Fun Police.

The card also featured ATTACK! debuts for Omari and the touring Extra Talented, and there were wins for Travis Banks, Wild Boar, #CCK, and the Australian duo of Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis. ATTACK! are back this Sunday with The Neon Wristlock in Bristol.

Finally, on Sunday, Lucha Forever returned to Southampton for Lucha L!ve 4 at The 1865 Club. With many of their regulars in action for PROGRESS, they dipped into the UK talent pool and gave debuts to Chris Tyler, Shax, and Omari, as well as Australians Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis.

Kip Sabian comes under the umbrella of the Bullet Club...

The show was headlined by the return of the Uptown Funkers, as Will Ospreay & Ryan Smile teamed in a defeat to Marty Scurll & Kip Sabian, who is making big strides this year. There were also wins for Cara Noir, Josh Bodom, and for Rockstar Spud, who is convinced he is a nine-month rookie from the year 2002.

Lucha Forever have their own On Demand channel and they're back on Friday night in Birmingham with the very random Lucha Loco.